Sundaragada: A 26-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh has been arrested for allegedly duping a Sundaragada-based company of around Rs 1.85 crore through a fraudulent business email, police said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Zubair alias Zubair Khan, a resident of Hapur district in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested with the assistance of the Uttar Pradesh Police and brought to Sundaragada on transit remand, they said.
According to police, the accused allegedly impersonated a genuine business associate of the company and sent a deceptive email requesting a change in the beneficiary bank account details.
Believing the email to be genuine, the company transferred Rs 1.85 crore through two RTGS transactions to a newly provided bank account, police said.
The transactions involved Rs 65,57,436 and Rs 1,19,88,000.
The fraud came to light after the genuine business associate contacted the company over non-receipt of the payment. The company subsequently realised that the email was fraudulent and approached the police.
During the investigation, police traced Rs 1.14 crore and placed the amount on hold in the concerned bank account. Following an order from a Sundaragada court, the amount was restored to the victim company’s bank account, police said.
Khan was arrested on Wednesday and two mobile phones, SIM cards and other documents were seized from his possession, they said.
He was produced before a court in Uttar Pradesh, which granted transit remand. He was subsequently brought to Sundaragada and sent to judicial custody on Saturday.
Further investigation is underway to identify and arrest the other persons allegedly involved in the fraud, police said.
